'Every man' should be 'worried' if Kavanaugh's nomination is derailed by Ford's credible sex assault accusation, White House ally says
On Sunday, after The Washington Post published Christine Blasey Ford's account of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's alleged sexual assault in the 1980s, the White House reissued a blanket denial Kavanaugh had made Friday, before Ford's name was public but the outlines of her allegations had leaked: "I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time."
A lawyer close to the White House said the accusation of attempted rape will not derail Kavanaugh's nomination. "No way, not even a hint of it," he told Politico. "If anything, it's the opposite. If somebody can be brought down by accusations like this, then you, me, every man certainly should be worried. We can all be accused of something."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The retired FBI agent who gave Ford a polygraph test in early August confirmed to The New York Times that Ford's answers indicated "no deception," meaning "she was being truthful" in affirming her allegations against Kavanaugh. A therapist's notes from 2012 also partially corroborate her story. In a book about recovering from alcoholism, Judge included a story about his friend "Bart O'Kavanaugh" puking in a car and passing out at a party, and Kavanaugh's Georgetown Prep high school yearbook suggests he was a tippler, the Post says.
-
How Democrats are turning DOJ lemons into partisan lemonadeTODAY’S BIG QUESTION As the Trump administration continues to try — and fail — at indicting its political enemies, Democratic lawmakers have begun seizing the moment for themselves
-
ICE’s new targets post-Minnesota retreatIn the Spotlight Several cities are reportedly on ICE’s list for immigration crackdowns
-
‘Those rights don’t exist to protect criminals’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
-
El Paso airspace closure tied to FAA-Pentagon standoffSpeed Read The closure in the Texas border city stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials over drone-related tests
-
Judge blocks Trump suit for Michigan voter rollsSpeed Read A Trump-appointed federal judge rejected the administration’s demand for voters’ personal data
-
US to send 200 troops to Nigeria to train armySpeed Read Trump has accused the West African government of failing to protect Christians from terrorist attacks
-
Grand jury rejects charging 6 Democrats for ‘orders’ videoSpeed Read The jury refused to indict Democratic lawmakers for a video in which they urged military members to resist illegal orders
